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edited April 2013 in General

politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » The economy remains top concern in latest Ipsos-MORI Index with unemployment and housing on the rise

The April Ipsos-MORI Issues Index sees unemployment move into 2nd place with immigration down to 3rd. twitter.com/MSmithsonPB/st…

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  • Pulpstar
    Pulpstar Posts: 79,813
    Unemployment and NHS movements outside MoE
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    Surprised at unemployment getting such a large bump - it's been pretty stable for a long time, even if it hasn't been great, so why start getting more worried now? End of the tax year?
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    edited April 2013
    Must say I found Dan Hodges quite amusing today:

    "I half expected Miliband to shout “How many seats? What’s it got to do with you, choirboy? Want a piece of me do you?!” But fortunately he kept his cool, and fell back on the tried and tested answer, “I think I’m going to do very well, but I can’t show it just in case I don’t, so I’m going to mutter some rubbish about it all being up the voters.” (I paraphrase.)

    There are few rituals more tiresome than the local elections expectations-management game. Last time I looked, Labour was claiming that if it got the votes of two men and a dog in Cambridgeshire, it will represent a spectacular night. The Tories, in contrast, seem to be telling their supporters they should prepare to wake up on Friday morning to find southern England has become a people’s republic."

    I think I can add one thing that is more tiresome than local elections expectations management - By-election expectations management and aftermath.

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danhodges/100214586/councillors-are-a-partys-footsoldiers-the-local-elections-will-go-a-long-way-to-deciding-who-wins-in-2015/
  • TGOHF
    TGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Bad news for a party that voters don't trust with the economy..
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    TGOHF said:

    Bad news for a party that voters don't trust with the economy..

    Quite so. But that's all of them isn't it?
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    TGOHF said:

    Bad news for a party that voters don't trust with the economy..

    Bad for the Tories, then?
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    Whilst UKIP are in the news (just reaching for my mate's mobile, guv) I recommend the UKIP Tips twitter feed.

    Laughing at a joke made by the man serving you in a kebab shop will provide great anecdotal evidence that you are not a racist

    Surprise your UKIP friends by singing 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' and not being arrested. Say the word 'blackboard' for added shock value

    Hit back at David Cameron's suggestion that you are a 'closet racist' by being openly racist
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    tim said:

    @kle4

    Unemployment has been rising for the last three months when you look at the individual monthly totals.

    It's really not been that bad though, not that extreme, so I'm surprised at the extent of the movement.

  • anotherDave
    anotherDave Posts: 6,746
    kle4 said:

    Surprised at unemployment getting such a large bump - it's been pretty stable for a long time, even if it hasn't been great, so why start getting more worried now? End of the tax year?

    Spanish/Greek unemployment levels have been in the news. That might be some it.

  • TGOHF
    TGOHF Posts: 21,633
    tim is predicting unemployment will rise every month for the next two years ?

    Are you Danny Blanchflower in disguise ?
  • TGOHF
    TGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Apple to sell £17Bn of bonds to avoid tax - Obama must be overjoyed.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/10027920/Apple-to-break-borrowing-record-with-bond-to-fund-capital-return.html

    "Although Apple has $137bn in cash, just over $100bn of it is outside America. Under US law, the Silicon Valley company would have to pay tax of up to 35pc on the money should it want to bring any of it back to give to shareholders. The bond sale, which is expected to be completed on Wednesday, offers the company a cheaper way of handing cash back to investors."
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    edited April 2013
    Councils coping with higher population figures than was thought

    Scores of councils have been coping with thousands more people living in their area than was previously thought, the Office for National Statistics has disclosed

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10029027/Councils-coping-with-higher-population-figures-than-was-thought.html
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    tim said:

    @Tykejohnno

    That is brilliant news for this country compared to our competitors

    The second Berlin Demography Forum heard stark warnings about Germany's low birth rate and aging society. Experts called for new policies to address demographic change.

    http://www.dw.de/demographic-change-to-hit-germany-hard/a-16516797

    France Germany and Italy are all showing falls in their working age populations, and we are not.

    http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php?title=File:Population_age_structure_by_major_age_groups,_1991_and_2011_(%_of_the_total_population).png&filetimestamp=20130129113537

    Now we need to build houses.

    or we could just send some folks off to France etc then we wouldn't need to build houses, environmentally friendly and all that.
  • Life_ina_market_town
    Life_ina_market_town Posts: 2,319
    The madness of the RSPCA continues, per the BBC. It seems that they have a deliberate policy of reducing the population of indigenous British birds and encouraging the survival of imported and invasive species of vermin, which would otherwise not be able to survive in this climate. Truly bizarre.
  • TGOHF
    TGOHF Posts: 21,633
    tim said:

    @Tykejohnno

    Now we need to build houses and get growth going.

    South Shields after 5 glorious years of the Labour reich

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Apartment_Buildings_in_Tbilisi_(A).jpg/800px-Apartment_Buildings_in_Tbilisi_(A).jpg
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    @Alanbrooke,that's what I been trying to explain to tim,it's called Quality of life.

    I posted this last year that councils will soon be under pressure,so tim's idea is to build houses so we can fill them with new immigration,just brilliant.
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    tim said:

    @Alanbrooke.

    So long as its the over 65's, we don't want to give up the massive strides we've made over the last fifteen years in reversing the demographic nightmare we were facing and Germany is waking up to.

    hmm, I was rather thinking of emptying London instead.
  • TGOHF
    TGOHF Posts: 21,633
    Tykejohnno said:

    @Alanbrooke,that's what I been trying to explain to tim,it's called Quality of life.

    I posted this last year that councils will soon be under pressure,so tim's idea is to build houses so we can fill them with new immigration,just brilliant.

    And the bonus is they will all vote Labour.
  • Life_ina_market_town
    Life_ina_market_town Posts: 2,319
    edited April 2013
    @Tykejohno
    Quality of life for those who don't own their home will be depressed for as long as property prices remain vastly inflated. The sensible course is for the government to end its policy of keeping house prices too high. In the meantime, we may as well address the symptoms and build some more houses.
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    Tykejohnno said:

    @Alanbrooke,that's what I been trying to explain to tim,it's called Quality of life.

    I posted this last year that councils will soon be under pressure,so tim's idea is to build houses so we can fill them with new immigration,just brilliant.


    well as you have been informed immigration makes us all richer. The bit I can't work out is why we aren't the most successful nation in Europe as a result. The only explanation possible is that Labour were such total crap at economic management that the huge benefits just got wiped out. ;-)
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    tim said:

    @Tykejohnno

    I realise you prefer low birth rates low immigration,ageing population, higher deficits, higher taxes, lower growth, no new airports houses or schools.
    But that's the Japanese model, and thankfully it's too late in this country for the Dail Mail and Daily Express readers to get their country that resembles Torquay circa 1959.

    Get it in your head,we *do not* have low birth rates,our population is going up not down.

  • Blue_rog
    Blue_rog Posts: 2,019
    On topic :-) unprompted questions are fine but they're not that good at teasing out opinions on intertwined subjects. As an example, Europe impacts a number of the quoted responses, economy, unemployment, immigration however Europe as a single item is very low on the list (not even mentioned).
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    Tykejohnno said:

    tim said:

    @Tykejohnno

    I realise you prefer low birth rates low immigration,ageing population, higher deficits, higher taxes, lower growth, no new airports houses or schools.
    But that's the Japanese model, and thankfully it's too late in this country for the Dail Mail and Daily Express readers to get their country that resembles Torquay circa 1959.

    Get it in your head,we *do not* have low birth rates,our population is going up not down.

    Tykejohnno said:

    tim said:

    @Tykejohnno

    I realise you prefer low birth rates low immigration,ageing population, higher deficits, higher taxes, lower growth, no new airports houses or schools.
    But that's the Japanese model, and thankfully it's too late in this country for the Dail Mail and Daily Express readers to get their country that resembles Torquay circa 1959.

    Get it in your head,we *do not* have low birth rates,our population is going up not down.

    I still don't see why we need more immigration when we have 2.5 million unemployed. If they were all in a job, there might be a point to it.
  • TGOHF
    TGOHF Posts: 21,633
    tim perfers the Beijing model - glorious gdp growth through building tiny houses - whether people want them or need them or whether there are any jobs near by - just dig dig dig and build build build them hutches high. Government builders building government owned homes for government workers.

    Build if you must - but build an airport, or train tracks or autobahns for driverless cars or nuclear power stations - why this obsession with knocking together cardboard boxes that will be unihabitable in 20 years ?

    The private sector has built plenty of houses - and sold them - let them continue.

  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    tim said:

    @Tykejohnno

    Our birth rate is still below replacement rate, but you are right that it has risen since 2003

    perhaps if we didn't have so many abortions it would be higher and then we wouldn't need immigration.
  • Life_ina_market_town
    Life_ina_market_town Posts: 2,319
    tim said:

    @TGOHF
    If the private sector had built plent of houses then real house prices wouldn't have trebled over the last 40 years.

    That might just have something to do with the madness of the planning laws, starting with the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. At least the Attlee government had the sense to pass the New Towns Act 1946 to alleviate the strain. End the artificial restriction of development, and the private sector will surely build.

  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    tim said:

    @Alanbrooke

    Forcing people to have unwanted children to please the Daily Express.
    Interesting but probably impractical.

    well of course you can question the motivation, but the maths is irrefutable. We all have to make hard decisions, sometimes I wonder if you've forgotten we're all one nation in this together as Ed Osborne said. Or was that George Miliband ?
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    From the article I posted earlier - Councils coping with higher population figures than was thought

    Officials have carried out a review of population figures in the light of the 2011 census, to give a truer picture of how many live in the country and to gauge the impact of a decade of mass immigration.

    The census showed there were almost 500,000 more people living in England and Wales than was previously thought and prompted the ONS to revise its annual “mid year population estimates” for all 348 council areas across the country.

    500,000 WTF
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    edited April 2013
    tim said:

    @LIAMT

    We need new towns now.

    Never mind new towns,more like new cities,we seemed to miss count 500'000 people ;-)
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    tim said:

    @alanbrooke

    I'm not sure that forcing people to have unwanted children purely because you don't like immigration is going to go anywhere.
    Why not ban contraception while you are at it?

    banging idea tim. Could I interest you in the priesthood ?
  • Morris_Dancer
    Morris_Dancer Posts: 62,742
    New towns? TIme to found Morrisopolis!
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    Morris_Dancer said:

    New towns? TIme to found Morrisopolis!

    you could be twinned with Carthage.
  • Morris_Dancer
    Morris_Dancer Posts: 62,742
    Mr. Brooke, I could add elephants to my genetic research project!
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    stephentall Gotta love the right-wing press peddling Ukip agenda all year round then throwing up their hands in horror when folk say they may vote Ukip
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    Tykejohnno said:



    500,000 WTF

    OMG. That's one person for every 1 or 2 square miles!

    Or, to put it another way, a town the size of a plant pot every 700 acres or so!!

    BRiTAin si FLUL!
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    Morris_Dancer said:

    Mr. Brooke, I could add elephants to my genetic research project!

    Why not also research Julian baboons, they're just like normal baboons but their arse is an exact likeness of Caesar ?
  • williamglenn
    williamglenn Posts: 56,290
    Life_ina_market_town said:

    tim said:

    @TGOHF
    If the private sector had built plent of houses then real house prices wouldn't have trebled over the last 40 years.

    That might just have something to do with the madness of the planning laws, starting with the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. At least the Attlee government had the sense to pass the New Towns Act 1946 to alleviate the strain. End the artificial restriction of development, and the private sector will surely build.
    Unfortunately most of the private building sector is no longer fit for purpose. As a result of a stifling planning system we are left with over-large builders whose core competence is land-banking and not design or craftsmanship.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Alanbrooke said:

    Morris_Dancer said:

    New towns? TIme to found Morrisopolis!

    you could be twinned with Carthage.
    One of the world's all time great leaders was raised in Carthage.

    Yes, Al Gore

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage,_Tennessee
  • AveryLP
    AveryLP Posts: 7,815
    FFS, someone lend tim a lego set.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    It's all about the economy.
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    carl said:

    Tykejohnno said:



    500,000 WTF

    OMG. That's one person for every 1 or 2 square miles!

    Or, to put it another way, a town the size of a plant pot every 700 acres or so!!

    BRiTAin si FLUL!
    It soon would be left to your lot.
  • Morris_Dancer
    Morris_Dancer Posts: 62,742
    Mr. Brooke, that's a silly notion. They'd only end up stabbing one another in the posterior.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Ed admits he was crap yesterday

    Ed Miliband admits misjudgment in World at One interview

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/30/ed-miliband-misjudgment-interview
  • AveryLP
    AveryLP Posts: 7,815
    The pound posted its biggest monthly gain versus the dollar since October 2011 as a report showed British banks granted more loans for homes in March than analysts predicted, adding to signs the economy is improving.

    The pound gained 0.3 percent to $1.5545 at 4:53 p.m. London time after climbing to $1.5546 yesterday, the most since Feb. 15.

    Calm down, George! You are not meant to be overheating the economy!
  • Life_ina_market_town
    Life_ina_market_town Posts: 2,319
    @williamglenn
    Relaxing the planning laws would pose a serious threat to the major building firms' oligopoly.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Messrs Brooke/Dancer.

    Can you please display more respect for The Queen of Bithynia
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    It's all about the economy.

    I'm not so sure it is.

    I mean, it IS, but since voters think all parties are crap on the economy, it kind of cancels out. So things like immigration, the NHS etc grow in significance.
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    AveryLP said:

    The pound posted its biggest monthly gain versus the dollar since October 2011 as a report showed British banks granted more loans for homes in March than analysts predicted, adding to signs the economy is improving.

    The pound gained 0.3 percent to $1.5545 at 4:53 p.m. London time after climbing to $1.5546 yesterday, the most since Feb. 15.

    Calm down, George! You are not meant to be overheating the economy!

    I've seen warmer corpses.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    edited April 2013
    @carl OMG. That's one person for every 1 or 2 square miles!

    Or, to put it another way, a town the size of a plant pot every 700 acres or so!!

    BRiTAin si FLUL!

    That would be sound,only problem the people are concentrated in our towns and cities,you would be right with British cities are full.
  • AveryLP
    AveryLP Posts: 7,815
    Alanbrooke said:

    AveryLP said:

    The pound posted its biggest monthly gain versus the dollar since October 2011 as a report showed British banks granted more loans for homes in March than analysts predicted, adding to signs the economy is improving.

    The pound gained 0.3 percent to $1.5545 at 4:53 p.m. London time after climbing to $1.5546 yesterday, the most since Feb. 15.

    Calm down, George! You are not meant to be overheating the economy!

    I've seen warmer corpses.
    Another vote for UKIP.
  • Scott_P
    Scott_P Posts: 51,453
    The Labour Party is most exercised by the news, broken by the Spectator, that Economist journalist Christopher Lockwood has been appointed to the Downing Street Policy Unit. Poor old Lockwood is charged with being a bit posh, knowing David Cameron personally and attending a good school. This amounts to a crime against humanity in Labour land.

    Rent-a-quote Rachel Reeves, who moonlights as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, took time off her maternity leave to lambast the elitist chumocracy at the heart of Dave’s government. All of which is a bit rich because the Labour Party indulges this particular establishment vogue to a tee.
    http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/steerpike/2013/04/the-glass-houses-of-parliament/
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap
    "

    Murdoch / Tories having a trial run at their election campaign, then.

    Good luck.
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    Real Madrid 2 - 0 Dortmund ,about 5 mins left
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    carl said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap
    "

    Murdoch / Tories having a trial run at their election campaign, then.

    Good luck.
    You missed the bit where they say the coalition is crap.
  • williamglenn
    williamglenn Posts: 56,290
    Life_ina_market_town said:

    @williamglenn
    Relaxing the planning laws would pose a serious threat to the major building firms' oligopoly.

    Agreed, but reform of the sector will take time. In the short term a relaxation in planning laws would need to be accompanied by measures to prevent rubbish being built.

    Osborne had the perfect opportunity to break up the oligopoly but would rather prop up their balance sheets and subsidise their profits.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Football, bloody hell.
  • Sunil_Prasannan
    Sunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,080
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    Now, now, TSE! You know full well that Ed is the best thing since sliced organic bread!
  • Morris_Dancer
    Morris_Dancer Posts: 62,742
    Mr. Eagles: no.
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    I suspect this is where standing for nothing starts to count against him. Since the public don't know what he stands for how's he going to make his mark ? He's now under pressure to do something before he's ready.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    edited April 2013
    Morris_Dancer said:

    Mr. Eagles: no.

    I've just realised one thing.

    This is how crap Hannibal was, Carthage doesn't exist anymore, but Rome is still here in the modern day.

    Caesar, once again is King.
  • HYUFD
    HYUFD Posts: 128,924
    Do we want funny politicians?
    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100214491/beyond-the-fringe-do-we-really-want-our-politicians-to-be-funny/
  • Morris_Dancer
    Morris_Dancer Posts: 62,742
    Mr. Eagles, if Carthage doesn't exist you can attribute that to a Roman failing. After destroying the city it was refounded and became a major settlement in the Western Roman Empire, and was then capital of an Exarchate under Justinian.
  • HYUFD
    HYUFD Posts: 128,924
    I see Clegg has said he would be prepared to work with Labour if they were largest party, here are his latest views on the political scene
    http://www.libdemvoice.org/nick-clegg-mp-writes-the-labour-and-tory-exodus-34302.html#utm_source=tweet&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    I suspect this is where standing for nothing starts to count against him. Since the public don't know what he stands for how's he going to make his mark ? He's now under pressure to do something before he's ready.
    There was a piece in The Times in the new year, that said, Ed's problem is that his opponents may fill in his blank piece of paper for him.
  • Sunil_Prasannan
    Sunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,080
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Football, bloody hell.

    Almost, almost for Madrid! They looked dead and buried up to the 80 minute mark
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Morris_Dancer said:

    Mr. Eagles, if Carthage doesn't exist you can attribute that to a Roman failing. After destroying the city it was refounded and became a major settlement in the Western Roman Empire, and was then capital of an Exarchate under Justinian.

    Surely a Carthaginian/Hannibal failing for getting spanked silly in the Second Punic War.
  • HYUFD
    HYUFD Posts: 128,924
    Great article by Michael Deacon on Cameron's trip to Morrison's

    The Prime Minister was there to win votes for the coming local elections. The Tories' message for this campaign is that they are the party "For Hardworking People", a message Mr Cameron communicates by making hardworking people down tools for an hour to listen to him speak.

    The Morrisons depot staff had been sitting silently for 25 minutes by the time Mr Cameron strode through the aisles to greet them. In fact they'd been waiting so long they'd dozed off. At least, I assume that was why they didn't applaud.

    I'll let other people judge what other parties are and what other parties do," he said vaguely, before adding that ultimately British politics was still about the Tories versus Labour. Although he didn't put it quite like that - what he actually said was, "the blue team" versus "the red team". Perhaps that's how his advisers have told him to put it during warehouse visits. "The working man likes association football, boss. Make it sound like association football."

    A member of staff asked about the rising cost of living. Mr Cameron reminded him of the Government's freeze on fuel duty. "The fuel duty put in place by the last government was like a series of unexploded bombs, which we've had to defuse!" he cried heroically. ("The working man likes Bruce Willis films, boss. Make it sound like a Bruce Willis film.")
  • Charles
    Charles Posts: 35,758
    tim said:

    @TGOHF

    If the private sector had built plenty of houses then real house prices wouldn't have trebled over the last 40 years.

    Don't forget planning policies, the MIRAS idiocy, PPR relief, loosening of credit policies and artificially depressed yields in alternative investments.

    Restriction of supply, inflating the relative attractiveness of a specific investment class and subsidising the returns. A policy mix tailor made to inflating property prices.

    Not to mentioned general crap economic management leading to a psychological bias towards real assets which won't be inflated into nothingness by spendthrift governments.
  • HYUFD
    HYUFD Posts: 128,924
    Wonder if Prince Charles brought the DVD of today's Dutch ceremonies?
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    edited April 2013
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    I suspect this is where standing for nothing starts to count against him. Since the public don't know what he stands for how's he going to make his mark ? He's now under pressure to do something before he's ready.
    There was a piece in The Times in the new year, that said, Ed's problem is that his opponents may fill in his blank piece of paper for him.
    Not just his opponents but the voters. Empty suit or geek take your pick, but since they expect him to show leadership and he hasn't I can't see it being positive.
  • Morris_Dancer
    Morris_Dancer Posts: 62,742
    Mr. Eagles, I'm sure Aemilius was dancing with victory in Rome.

    Or would've been, if Hannibal hadn't killed him.
  • williamglenn
    williamglenn Posts: 56,290
    @Life_ina_market_town I was reluctant to admit the parallels between Osborne and Brown but they are undeniable. Both are obsessed with dividing lines and short-term manoeuvering.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Football, bloody hell.

    Almost, almost for Madrid! They looked dead and buried up to the 80 minute mark
    Which date are you seeing The Mode?
  • roserees64
    roserees64 Posts: 251
    Ed Milband might be crap as Prime Minister but he also might be very good, we don't yet know. However we do know that both Dave Omnishambles Cameron and Gideon Double Dip Osborne are really crap.
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    HYUFD said:

    Do we want funny politicians?
    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100214491/beyond-the-fringe-do-we-really-want-our-politicians-to-be-funny/

    I think they need to be able to show a genuine sense of humour at things sometimes, and the occasional good line does not go amiss, as a little goes a long way with the public I think, given humour is a prized social quality, in making them relatable. So if they can take or give a joke without it looking like fun is a concept they've only heard about through improperly inserted punchcards, it can help their image.

    But I don't think we like them to be too funny, probably because a lot of the times politicians try to be consistently funny (beyond the occasional line), they are not as amusing as they think, or their delivery not as good, and it damages their image instead. Lots of groaners among the good political lines.

    Now, what odds that by the time I finish this post, someone says something like 'Cameron/Miliband are certainly pretty laughable'?
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    I suspect this is where standing for nothing starts to count against him. Since the public don't know what he stands for how's he going to make his mark ? He's now under pressure to do something before he's ready.
    There was a piece in The Times in the new year, that said, Ed's problem is that his opponents may fill in his blank piece of paper for him.
    Ed's opponents, like Murdoch / The Times / the Tories, are hardly going to let Ed define himself on his own terms, now, are they? No matter what he says, they'll define him how they think most hurts him.

    I doubt Ed worries about this in the slightest, either. He seems well up for the scrap, and certainly seems to know full well what he's up against.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    I suspect this is where standing for nothing starts to count against him. Since the public don't know what he stands for how's he going to make his mark ? He's now under pressure to do something before he's ready.
    There was a piece in The Times in the new year, that said, Ed's problem is that his opponents may fill in his blank piece of paper for him.
    Not just his opponents but the voters. Empty suit or geek take your pick, but since they expect him to show leadership and he hasn't I can't see it being positive.
    Well the Blairites have passed their opinion
  • Charles
    Charles Posts: 35,758
    williamglenn said:

    Life_ina_market_town said:

    @williamglenn
    Relaxing the planning laws would pose a serious threat to the major building firms' oligopoly.

    Agreed, but reform of the sector will take time. In the short term a relaxation in planning laws would need to be accompanied by measures to prevent rubbish being built.

    Osborne had the perfect opportunity to break up the oligopoly but would rather prop up their balance sheets and subsidise their profits.
    Take it you are talking about the banks? Anything more than a managed decline in house prices would lead to the need for a mass recapitalisation.

    Moreover, when you think about house prices you need to strip out the M25 (and arguably only the super-prime/prime-London segments). In most of the country house prices are not nearly as strong as the Express likes to believe.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    carl said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    I suspect this is where standing for nothing starts to count against him. Since the public don't know what he stands for how's he going to make his mark ? He's now under pressure to do something before he's ready.
    There was a piece in The Times in the new year, that said, Ed's problem is that his opponents may fill in his blank piece of paper for him.
    Ed's opponents, like Murdoch / The Times / the Tories, are hardly going to let Ed define himself on his own terms, now, are they? No matter what he says, they'll define him how they think most hurts him.

    I doubt Ed worries about this in the slightest, either. He seems well up for the scrap, and certainly seems to know full well what he's up against.
    It was a piece by Phil Collins, the former Labour adviser/speechwriter.
  • dr_spyn
    dr_spyn Posts: 11,312
    @TSE

    Yesterday, one of my relatives thought that a caller claiming to be Ed M was a hoax or prank and she was being set up by her sister. The guy does deserve Respect, as Ali G would say. She really did chat to him.
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    roserees64 said:

    Ed Milband might be crap as Prime Minister but he also might be very good, we don't yet know. However we do know that both Dave Omnishambles Cameron and Gideon Double Dip Osborne are really crap.

    Well, Ed M was a key adviser and then a minister to a crap government (though I'm more sympathetic to Brown than Blair in all honesty), but it is a fair point, and where I think public opinion is at right now.

    If I hadn't lived my whole life in the Tory heartlands, and grown up with the most prominent Labour figure being the smarmy and odious Blair, I'd probably be seriously thinking about voting Labour right now. As it is, it'll probably still take a while to overcome such a background.

  • anotherDave
    anotherDave Posts: 6,746
    HYUFD said:

    Great article by Michael Deacon on Cameron's trip to Morrison's

    The Prime Minister was there to win votes for the coming local elections. The Tories' message for this campaign is that they are the party "For Hardworking People", a message Mr Cameron communicates by making hardworking people down tools for an hour to listen to him speak.

    The Morrisons depot staff had been sitting silently for 25 minutes by the time Mr Cameron strode through the aisles to greet them. In fact they'd been waiting so long they'd dozed off. At least, I assume that was why they didn't applaud.

    I'll let other people judge what other parties are and what other parties do," he said vaguely, before adding that ultimately British politics was still about the Tories versus Labour. Although he didn't put it quite like that - what he actually said was, "the blue team" versus "the red team". Perhaps that's how his advisers have told him to put it during warehouse visits. "The working man likes association football, boss. Make it sound like association football."

    A member of staff asked about the rising cost of living. Mr Cameron reminded him of the Government's freeze on fuel duty. "The fuel duty put in place by the last government was like a series of unexploded bombs, which we've had to defuse!" he cried heroically. ("The working man likes Bruce Willis films, boss. Make it sound like a Bruce Willis film.")

    UKIP had a man on the spot.

    http://youtu.be/wBn1lsFvDNU
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    @carl I doubt Ed worries about this in the slightest, either. He seems well up for the scrap, and certainly seems to know full well what he's up against

    Kinnock proberly thought that as well,ed is no Kinnock ;-)
  • Sunil_Prasannan
    Sunil_Prasannan Posts: 55,080
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Football, bloody hell.

    Almost, almost for Madrid! They looked dead and buried up to the 80 minute mark
    Which date are you seeing The Mode?
    I'm seeing them on the 29th May at the O2, how about you?
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    carl said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    The Times Editorial uses a lot of words to say Ed is crap

    "Under the spotlight, he (Ed Miliband) too often sounds peevish, evasive and exasperated. This is not how the public expect a future Prime Minister to behave. More than halfway through a Parliament, and with a lacklustre coalition government struggling with its own internal tensions, Labour should be doing better. So should Mr Miliband."

    I suspect this is where standing for nothing starts to count against him. Since the public don't know what he stands for how's he going to make his mark ? He's now under pressure to do something before he's ready.
    There was a piece in The Times in the new year, that said, Ed's problem is that his opponents may fill in his blank piece of paper for him.
    Ed's opponents, like Murdoch / The Times / the Tories, are hardly going to let Ed define himself on his own terms, now, are they? No matter what he says, they'll define him how they think most hurts him.

    I doubt Ed worries about this in the slightest, either. He seems well up for the scrap, and certainly seems to know full well what he's up against.
    It was a piece by Phil Collins, the former Labour adviser/speechwriter.
    Like I said, bloody Tories, no matter how good a drummer he was originally.

    The point stands. Ed's opponents like Murdoch, Dacre and the Tories will define him how they see fit. No matter what. Ed needs to be (and I think is) up for that.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    dr_spyn said:

    @TSE

    Yesterday, one of my relatives thought that a caller claiming to be Ed M was a hoax or prank and she was being set up by her sister. The guy does deserve Respect, as Ali G would say. She really did chat to him.

    I warmed up to Ed a lot last year, he did a couple things that really impressed me

    1) He did a stint on TMS, and he spoke like a true cricket fan, rather than a Jonny Come Lately politician trying to be a fan

    2) In another interview he explained why he was so geeky/bookish. He said, his Dad was ill when he was at school, and he didn't want to stress his Dad out by getting bad results, so he concentrated on getting good results to cheer up his Dad.
  • Charles
    Charles Posts: 35,758
    roserees64 said:

    Ed Milband might be crap as Prime Minister but he also might be very good, we don't yet know. However we do know that both Dave Omnishambles Cameron and Gideon Double Dip Osborne are really crap.

    The fact that you choose to use a name that Osborne stopped using when he was a teenager leads me to believe that, regardless of their performance, you would have a negative view of Cameron and Osborne.

    Why don't you run along and find a nice bridge to sit under?
  • kle4
    kle4 Posts: 99,113
    edited April 2013
    HYUFD said:

    I see Clegg has said he would be prepared to work with Labour if they were largest party, here are his latest views on the political scene
    http://www.libdemvoice.org/nick-clegg-mp-writes-the-labour-and-tory-exodus-34302.html#utm_source=tweet&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitter

    Something is happening on the centre ground of British politics. An exodus. The Conservative leadership is being lured to the right. Ed Miliband is pulling his party to the left. Only the Liberal Democrats are holding firm.

    That creates an opportunity for our party.

    No it doesn't. It means they'll be seen as even more 'in the pocket of the other lot' than they are by the respective supporters of each other party now. They can get away with such things, because they have much stronger core votes, which they take with them when they shift. The LDs do not appear to.

  • williamglenn
    williamglenn Posts: 56,290
    Charles said:


    Take it you are talking about the banks?

    I was talking about the building sector itself. It's dominated by the listed national builders who've forgotten what it means to deliver a quality product. For them building a house is just a means to offload their land-banks at inflated prices.
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    dr_spyn said:

    @TSE

    Yesterday, one of my relatives thought that a caller claiming to be Ed M was a hoax or prank and she was being set up by her sister. The guy does deserve Respect, as Ali G would say. She really did chat to him.

    I warmed up to Ed a lot last year, he did a couple things that really impressed me

    1) He did a stint on TMS, and he spoke like a true cricket fan, rather than a Jonny Come Lately politician trying to be a fan

    2) In another interview he explained why he was so geeky/bookish. He said, his Dad was ill when he was at school, and he didn't want to stress his Dad out by getting bad results, so he concentrated on getting good results to cheer up his Dad.
    High Five Mr Eagles,

    this has miraculously morphed into an Ed is crap thread. I did so miss them ;-)
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Sunil_Prasannan said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Football, bloody hell.

    Almost, almost for Madrid! They looked dead and buried up to the 80 minute mark
    Which date are you seeing The Mode?
    I'm seeing them on the 29th May at the O2, how about you?
    Well I am seeing them in June in Paris, and in Manchester in November.

    However, I'm working in London on the 29th and 30th, so I need something to do on the evening of the 29th.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    dr_spyn said:

    @TSE

    Yesterday, one of my relatives thought that a caller claiming to be Ed M was a hoax or prank and she was being set up by her sister. The guy does deserve Respect, as Ali G would say. She really did chat to him.

    I warmed up to Ed a lot last year, he did a couple things that really impressed me

    1) He did a stint on TMS, and he spoke like a true cricket fan, rather than a Jonny Come Lately politician trying to be a fan

    2) In another interview he explained why he was so geeky/bookish. He said, his Dad was ill when he was at school, and he didn't want to stress his Dad out by getting bad results, so he concentrated on getting good results to cheer up his Dad.
    High Five Mr Eagles,

    this has miraculously morphed into an Ed is crap thread. I did so miss them ;-)
    I got into trouble the last time I ran an Ed is Crap.
  • carl
    carl Posts: 750
    Charles said:

    roserees64 said:

    Ed Milband might be crap as Prime Minister but he also might be very good, we don't yet know. However we do know that both Dave Omnishambles Cameron and Gideon Double Dip Osborne are really crap.

    The fact that you choose to use a name that Osborne stopped using when he was a teenager leads me to believe that, regardless of their performance, you would have a negative view of Cameron and Osborne.

    Why don't you run along and find a nice bridge to sit under?
    Unlike your balanced, non-partisan offerings eh Charles.
  • Alanbrooke
    Alanbrooke Posts: 25,926
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    dr_spyn said:

    @TSE

    Yesterday, one of my relatives thought that a caller claiming to be Ed M was a hoax or prank and she was being set up by her sister. The guy does deserve Respect, as Ali G would say. She really did chat to him.

    I warmed up to Ed a lot last year, he did a couple things that really impressed me

    1) He did a stint on TMS, and he spoke like a true cricket fan, rather than a Jonny Come Lately politician trying to be a fan

    2) In another interview he explained why he was so geeky/bookish. He said, his Dad was ill when he was at school, and he didn't want to stress his Dad out by getting bad results, so he concentrated on getting good results to cheer up his Dad.
    High Five Mr Eagles,

    this has miraculously morphed into an Ed is crap thread. I did so miss them ;-)
    I got into trouble the last time I ran an Ed is Crap.
    But you do trouble, you're a lawyer.
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Alanbrooke said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    dr_spyn said:

    @TSE

    Yesterday, one of my relatives thought that a caller claiming to be Ed M was a hoax or prank and she was being set up by her sister. The guy does deserve Respect, as Ali G would say. She really did chat to him.

    I warmed up to Ed a lot last year, he did a couple things that really impressed me

    1) He did a stint on TMS, and he spoke like a true cricket fan, rather than a Jonny Come Lately politician trying to be a fan

    2) In another interview he explained why he was so geeky/bookish. He said, his Dad was ill when he was at school, and he didn't want to stress his Dad out by getting bad results, so he concentrated on getting good results to cheer up his Dad.
    High Five Mr Eagles,

    this has miraculously morphed into an Ed is crap thread. I did so miss them ;-)
    I got into trouble the last time I ran an Ed is Crap.
    But you do trouble, you're a lawyer.
    I must confess, I do get a perverse pleasure from opening the hornets nest/poking a can of worms.
  • Tykejohnno
    Tykejohnno Posts: 7,362
    edited April 2013
    Telegraph front page, Tebbit,you can't blame tories voting for ukip.

    http://www.politicshome.com/uk/article/77452/the_daily_telegraph_tuesday_30th_april_2013.html
  • TheScreamingEagles
    TheScreamingEagles Posts: 122,806
    Do I get a prize for the best mixed metaphors of the year?
  • Charles
    Charles Posts: 35,758
    williamglenn said:

    Charles said:


    Take it you are talking about the banks?

    I was talking about the building sector itself. It's dominated by the listed national builders who've forgotten what it means to deliver a quality product. For them building a house is just a means to offload their land-banks at inflated prices.
    Yes - they are businesses after all. Certainly there is a need for scale, but it's worth bearing in mind that even the big players like Berkeley or St Georges (albeit a brand rather than a company) don't build that many houses.

    The government tried to relax the planning laws but were shouted down by vested interests. I suspect planning law is a Nixon/China issue, although Labour undermined even the most tentative steps that the last Tory government tried to make (such as (I think) pp7 exemptions)
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